Paint brush and roller cover cleaning appliance



| KRU GER 2,912,769

PAINT BRUSH AND ROLLER COVER CLEANING APPLIANCE Nov. 17, 1959 Filed April 3, 1958 FIG. I

2 o 4 of w m sx w 4 n Lflll/ a4 A me MW K ATTOENE Y United States Patent F PAINT BRUSH AND ROLLER COVER CLEANING APPLIANCE This invention relates to 'an appliance or tool for centrifugally spinning paint brushes and paint roller covers to clean them of paint. 7

This application relates to the constructions-disclosed in Kruger Patent No. 2,794,265, and Kruger application Serial No. 665,619, filed April 25, 1957, now Patent No. 2,884,719.

The appliance embodying the instant invention is a tool used to centrifugally spin paint out of the bristles of a paint brush and from the fibres of the cover of a paint roller. The paint brush or roller cover is first soaked in paint solvent to dilute the paint if soft, or to soften the paint if hard. The brush or roller cover is then rotated a few times. in the solvent to free it of surface paint. Upon removal from the solvent, the paint brush is then rotated very .swiftly by the appliance, causing the bristles of the brushto flare out and the diluted paint to fly off under centrifugal force. A very few moments of alternate soaking. and spinning results in a brushor roller cover remarkably free of paint,'and ready for reuse.

The instant invention involves improvements in the gripper or finger construction at the lower end of. the

tool,wherein a retaining spring has been eliminated from its encompassing attachmentabout the fingers by virtue of a novel and unique/arrangement at the webof the larger gripper.

2,912,769 Patented Nov. .17,

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of the appliance .6111? bodying the inventive gripper construction.

Fig. 2 is a slightly enlarged vertical sectional view taken in a plane through the axis of the appliance shown in Fig. 1, a paint brush handle being shown ,in broken lines.

Fig. 3 is an exploded view of the gripper parts and bolder therefor. Z

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the gripper fingers, with a section of a paint brush handle being shown in broken lines. i

As shown in Figs. land 2 of the drawing, the paint brush and roller cover cleaning appliance 10 comprises a cylindrical barrel 12, a manually operable driving blade 14 in engagement with a clutch disc 16 under the barrel cap 18, a driven shaft 20 releasably engageable with the A clutch disc 16, and a gripper assembly 22 fixedly secured to the lower end of driven shaft 20.

The driving portion of the appliance 10 is substantially as described in the copending Kruger application Serial No. 665,619 above referred to. The inventive improvements of the instant application reside in'the gripper assembly 22.

The latter assembly comprises a gripper 24, a first pair of centering fingers 26, 26, a second pair of centering fingers 28, 28 arranged at right angles to the first pair, and a holder 30. I,

Gripper 24 comprises a pair of fingers 32 spaced apart from each other by a web 34 arranged, as, shown in Fig. 3, with a concave form and acentral opening 36. The fingers 32 are curved transversely at their side pOIf tions 38 so that they present portions of a cylindrical surface. The segmental cylindrical character of the finger sides 38 provides a firm seat for paint roller covers (not shown). The lower ends 40 of each of the fingers 32 are bent inwardly toward each other and then upwardly into The improvement resides essentially in the preformation of the web of thelarge gripper in a concave curvature, and'the preformation of the holding adaptor part in a concave, dished curvature, whereby when the two parts are assembled the gripper web is pulled inwardly of the adaptor dished area to produce a substantially increased tension upon the finger portions of the gripper, causing the lower ends of the fingers to, draw toward and against each other with considerable pressure. This compression is maintained througout the operating life of the tool.

It is anobject of the invention to provide increased compression in the-fingers of grippers for a paint brush cleaning tool, and to increase the pressure exerted by the fingers, particularly at their lower ends, upon each other and upon a paint brush handle inserted therebetween. It

is another object to provide gripper fingers conjoined by a web deformed concavely between the fingers. A further object is to provide a holder for the gripper having a heating surface therefor in concave form. Yet another object is to provide an assembly of the gripper and its holder so that the concavely preformed web of the gripper between its fingers is stressed into the concave seating surface of the holder therefor, whereby increased compression is applied to the fingers particularly at their lower ends.

These and additional objects of the invention and fea tures of construction will become more readily apparent from the description given below, in which the terms are used for purposes of description and not of limitation.

Reference is made to the drawing annexed hereto and made an integral part of this specification, in which compressive touching contact at the inturned finger flanges 42, 42, terminating in end members 44 arranged to form an ovalized opening 46, shown particularly in Fig. 4. The end members 44, 44 at their lines of junction with their respective finger flanges 42, 42 are smoothly curved so that the paint brush handle is gripped securely and with minimum damage or scoring to its finish.

The centering fingers 26, 26 are formed as shown and integrally connectedto each otherby a web 48 having an opening 50 centrally therethrough. The second pair of centering fingers' 28, 28 are integrally connected by a web 52, also having an opening54 centrally threthrough. Of course, the fingers 26, 26 and 28, 28 may be integrally formed together with a single web.

The holder 30 comprises an integrally machined or formed cylindrical part having a lower hub 56" with, a tapered blind hole 58 therein, a fiange 60 of substantially the diameter of the barrel 12, a shoulder 62, a step 64, a ball race shoulder 66, and a hub 68 at its upper is then struck with a suitable spreading or peening tool to secure the gripper 24 and the two centering pairs of fingers 26, 26 and 28, 28 firmly upon the concave flange seat 72. The centering fingers are spaced concentrically about the axis of the gripper assembly in the order of 26, 28, 26, 28, the web 52 lying directly upon the web 48, or vice-versa.

The centering fingers are identical so that they can be arranged interchangeably.

By forcing the concavely formed web 34 of the gripper 24 into a convex configuration, considerable compressive force is generated in the fingers 32 at their lower ends 30 causing the inturned flanges 42, 42 to bear against each other with great pressure.

Both the gripper 24 and the pairs of centering fingers 26 and 28 are made of an excellent grade of spring steel, the gripper 24 being formed of heavy gauge strip steel, the centering fingers being fabricated of lighter gauge strip. The prime function of the gripper 24 is to secure a paint brush handle by the fingers 32 while spinning the paint brush at speeds of upwards of 600 r.p.m. The gripper 24 has been tested with 6" wide paint brushes, and it has not been found necessary to apply any kind of a band or spring or other compressive means upon the fingers 32 to secure their grip on the paint brush handle 80, shown in broken lines in Figs. 2 and 4. The centering fingers 26, 26 and 28, 28 do not apply great compressive force upon the upper end of the handle 30, but they do hold the end central and in the axis of the tool. For this reason, they need not be fabricated of heavy gauge Stock.

After assembly of the gripper 22, the hub 68 is introduced into the lower end of the shaft 20, where it is there secured by spreading the hub and the shaft with a suitable punch tool. The holder flange 60 is arranged to rotate below the lower edge of barrel 12.

In operation, a paint brush handle 80 is inserted into the opening 4-6 between the finger flanges 42, 42 spreading them apart, as in Fig. 2, and up between the centering fingers 26, 26 and 28, 28 until the tip end of the brush handle seats itself in the blind hole 58 of hub 56. The brush is thus aligned axially of the appliance 10, and can be rotated, without fear of eccentric throw, at high spinning speeds.

It has been found that the gripper fingers 32 retain their firm hold upon the brush handle 80 even when a 6" brush is being rotated at speeds upwards of 600 r.p.m. At the same time, the brush handle 80 is maintained free of score marks by virtue of the rounded configuration of the finger flanges 42, 42.

Having described the invention in its simplest terms, it is to be understood that the features of construction may be changed and varied in greater or lesser degree without departing from the essence of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a tool for centrifugally spinning a paint brush or roller cover free of paint, a gripper assembly for securely holding the handle of a paint brush axially of said assembly during spinning comprising a gripper having a web and a pair of outer web-connected, extend- :ing parallel fingers terminating at their lower ends in inturned opposedly facing contiguous flanges, said web having a preformed concave configuration, a holder for said gripper having a concave spherical seat therefor, and means to face said concave web against said seat, whereby when said gripper web is forcefully secured upon said holder seat said web is rendered convex in form and said fingers are brought together at their lower contiguous inturned flanges under pressure.

2. In a tool for centrifugally spinning a paint brush or roller cover free of paint, a gripper assembly for securely holding the handle of a paint brush axially of said assembly therewithin during spinning comprising a gripper having a web and a pair of outer parallel fingers connected by said web substantially normal to said fingers, said fingers extending directly from said web in straight lines terminating at their lower ends in inturned opposedly facing contiguous flanges, said fingers being transversely curved to form opposed arcs of a circle, said web having a preformed concave dished configuration longitudinally thereof, a holder for said gripper rotatably movable and secured in said tool having a concave spherical seat adapted to seat said gripper web, and means to face said concave web-against said seat, whereby when said gripper Web is forcefully secured upon said holder seat said web is rendered convex in form and said fingers are brought together at their lower contiguous inturned flanges under pressure.

3. In a tool for centrifugally spinning a paint brush or roller cover free of paint, a gripper assembly for securely holding the handle of a paint brush axially of said assembly therewithin during spinning comprising a gripper having a web and a pair of axially extending parallel fingers in touching contact at their lower ends and connected by said web normal to the spinning axis of said tool, said web having a preformed concavely curved configuration, a holder for said gripper rotatably movable and secured in said tool having a concave seat adaptcd to receive and seat said gripper web, the web of said gripper and the seat of said holder being opposedly concave, and means to face said concave web against said seat, whereby when said gripper web is forcefully secured upon said holder seat said web is rendered convex in form and said fingers are brought together at their lower ends under pressure.

4. In a tool for centrifugally spinning a paint brush or roller cover free of paint, a gripper assembly for securely holding the handle of a paint brush therewithin during spinning comprising a gripper having a pair of axially extending parallel transversely curved fingers in contiguous contact at their lower ends and having a web normal to the axis of said tool provided with an opening, said web having a preformed concavely curved configuration, a holder for said gripper rotatably movable and secured in said tool having a concave seat adapted to receive and seat said gripper web, centering means axially positioned Within the compass of said fingers to securely seat the tip end of said paint brush handle, said holder having means passing through said web at its opening and through said centering means to fixedly secure said gripper and centering means thereto, the web of said gripper and the seat of said holder being opposedly concave, whereby when said gripper web is forcefully secured upon said holder seat said web is rendered convex in form and said fingers are brought together at their lower ends under pressure.

5. The structure defined in claim 4, and in which said centering means comprise two pairs of web connected fingers arranged axially and radially of the axis of said tool.

6. The structure defined in claim 5, and in which each of the two pairs of centering fingers are formed separately and connected by independent webs secured by said holder means, the centering fingers of eachpair being arranged alternately about said axis.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 698,272 Glover Apr. 22, 1902 1,699,937 Yablick Jan. 22, 1929 2,794,265 Kruger June 4, 1957 2,795,834 Szoke June 18, 1957 

